Russian consortium agrees to set up refinery in K-P

ISLAMABAD: Russian investors representing Inter Rao Engineering and Himmash Apparat, a leading engineering, procurement and construction contractor, through local partner Orpheus have joined hands with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Oil and Gas Company Limited (KPOGCL) and they plan to set up a medium-sized refinery in Kohat district.

Considering the crude and condensate production in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, which is a leading player amongst other provinces, investors showed keen interest and signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the refinery project in an attempt to ramp up oil production in the province.

According to a statement, a meeting was held between KPOGCL Chief Executive Officer Raziuddin Razi and the visiting delegation of Russian investors, headed by Yaroslav Gavrylendo, Adviser to CEO Inter Rao Engineering and Narovlyanski Alexander, Head of Export of Himmash Apparat, to discuss the way forward for the planned project. The CEO of KPOGCL, which is actively facilitating investments in the oil and gas sector, briefed investors on financial and technical aspects of the project.

“K-P government is fulfilling its responsibility by providing investors with a one-window shop facility and assuring the visiting delegation of full cooperation,” said the statement.

“Letters of Intent have already been issued by the Russian investors through their consortium to the K-P government and they are keen to take this project into the next phase.”

KPOGCL said it was taking all necessary steps for enabling the vision of K-P government to ensure energy security for Pakistan.

According to terms of the MoU, the interested group will undertake a detailed feasibility study for the project. KPOGCL also arranged a site visit for the Russian delegation in Kohat district and showed the potential site for setting up the crude and condensate refinery.

The delegation, while praising efforts of KPOGCL for facilitating new investors, assured it that they would push ahead with the project subject to its approval from Russia.